Invalids and other chronically ill persons who are bedridden require specialized care to prevent the formation of pressure sores or decubiti. Proper care for such patients includes providing good air flow around the patient and assisting the patient in moving from one position to another, where possible. Patients who are obese, severely arthritic, or who are recovering from recent surgery, have difficulty reorienting their bodies and find it nearly impossible to sit up. Since it is known that the action of moving the patient can prevent complications such as hypostatic pneumonia, large scale apparatus such as motorized hospital beds have been employed to introduce a certain artificial mobility to the body parts. What is needed, however, is a simpler technique to easily transfer the bedridden patient from the bed to a seated position. Even more beneficial would be a mechanism for easily transferring the bedridden patient from the bed to a wheelchair to enable a change of scene out of the hospital room.